Bill Dawley had a short but fairly solid major league career. He made the All-Star team as a rookie in 1983, despite starting the season in the minors and being neither a starter or a closer. He finished that year with a career-high 14 saves, which was second on the team to Frank DiPino, who had 20. He was a member of the 1987 Cardinals NL Championship team but did not appear in the postseason.